David Fleyrat had almost cleared his Marseille hospital's intensive care ward of COVID-19 patients during the summer lull in new cases. Now the private unit is filling fast again and Fleyrat can barely conceal his frustration.

"It's not doing our job that is tiring. What's tiring is a second wave because people do not respect social distancing," Fleyrat, who is managing director of the private Clinique Bouchard-Elsan told Reuters.

Marseille is at the epicenter of a resurgence in novel coronavirus cases throughout France. Intensive care wards in the Mediterranean city's public hospitals are full and so hospitals like Fleyrat's are handling the spillover.